Chance
by Antimisanthrope
Summary: Miley & Oliver are older now, and meet by chance at the grocery store. Former oneshot turned story. Chchch check it out.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Anything that you've heard of before (character names, product names, brands) does not belong to me. It's kinda sad ain't it? Oh well, at least I can hold on to my shipping thoughts of Moliver. Or me & Mitchel Musso… but that's a lot less likely, yeah?

Oliver Oken, now 23 years old, walked through the grocery, pushing a cart full of fruits, pasta, and bread, not to mention 5-year-old Madison. Oliver and Maddie were now traveling down the cereal aisle, trying to track down some Cheerios.

"Baby, you sure you want Cheerios? I can't seem to find them anywhere," Oliver asked, wearing a puzzled look upon his face.

"Daaaaaaaaddy, they're right behind you!" giggled Maddie.

"Oh, right, babycakes," he replied as he began to maneuver the cart around. He met resistance as their cart bumped into a brunette woman's shopping basket.

"Oh God, I am so sorry," he explained, attempting to help the woman pick up her dropped groceries.

"It's fine, really. I always like to break down my chips anyways, they always come so big," the woman replied, hoping to make this new-found stranger smile.

Oliver was making sure Maddie was okay when he heard this, recognizing her voice immediately.

"Miley Stewart, never thought I'd find you here," he exclaimed with a smirk.

"Oliver Oken, I never thought I'd see you eat anything other than junk food," she responded, reciprocating his exact expression. They both laughed a bit, before hugging each other.

"So, umm…," Miley started, while gesturing to Maddie, who was waiting patiently in the cart.

"Oh yeah. I'm horrible. Miley, this is Maddie, err, Madison. She's my daughter, we live here in Santa Cruz" he replied, with only the smile that a father can give while describing his child.

"Oh wow…so umm, wow. Married with kids? Well, kid. Wow…can't say I saw that one coming Smokin' Oken."

"I guess I'm just full of surprises. And…it's actually just, with kid. I'm not married, or engaged, or seeing anyone. I guess I just never…"

"Oh, umm, yeah. I know, after well…"

"Yeah. After that. Thing. But, I knew I wanted to raise a kid, especially a daughter, so I adopted Maddie when she was about 18 months and it's been just the two of us ever since. You?"

"Well, I actually just moved here about two months ago with, umm, my husband. We've been married almost a year now. No kids."

"Sounds good, sounds good," Oliver replied, nodding his head in understanding.

"You know, about me not calling you that summer and going to UCSD with you, I'm just, I'm really sorry."

"Hey. Don't worry about it Miles. I got the hint after you sent me the picture of you and Adam in San Francisco. The one that said "Glad you're not here." Oliver laughed.

"Oh. Yeah, sorry. I forgot about that."

"It's fine, really. I've just kinda been wondering though, what happened, Miles?"

Miley looked down. "Well, night of graduation, I heard you talking to Cooper. I remember your exact words, 'This part of my life is over now, Coop. I'm out of high school now, man, I've gotta start something new. I've just got this feeling in my heart, and I know it's what I've gotta do.' Once I heard that, I knew you were gonna break up with me. So I avoided you all night, and the next day, I met up with Adam, who had been trying to go out with me even while we were together. I decided to follow him to UC Irvine instead. Of course I didn't marry him, but at the time it seemed right."

"Oh. So that's why then. I never knew –" Oliver was cut off by an alarm on his phone going off. He checked it, seeing it was 3:00.

"Dance time, Daddy?" asked Maddie, who had opened into the box of Cheerios while waiting.

"Yeah it is, sweetie." He looked over to Miley and said, "Maddie's got dance at 3:30, so we've gotta go now. But it was great seeing you, Miles, it really was. Maybe we'll see each other around."

He proceeded to walk off towards the checkout, but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Wait, Oliver. You never explained your half of the story."

"Let me ask you something, Miles. Are you happy? With your husband? With your life?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then that's enough, Miles."

Miley stared uncertainly at Oliver as he paid for their groceries and walked out the door towards their car. First, he loaded Maddie into her car seat. Once she was safe, he moved to the trunk, loading the groceries into the car, replaying the part of Miley's memory that she had not heard.

"_**This part of my life is over now, Coop. I'm out of high school now, man, I've gotta start something new. I've just got this feeling in my heart, and I know it's what I've gotta do…**I know Miley and I have only been together for two years, but I know there's no one else for me. Hell man, I already knew she was before we were even officially together."_

"_But a ring, man? Marriage is pretty serious."_

"_And I am seriously in love with Miley Stewart. I mean, we're going to the same college and everything. I know we'll find a way to work it out. College is about truly committing to something, and I'm ready to commit to her for the rest of my life."_

Oliver returned the cart to its space, telling Maddie he'd be right back. He returned to the car, putting his seat belt on and turning on the ignition.

"Hey Daddy?"

"Yeah, babycakes?"

"You really loved that lady didn't you."

"You're right, baby. Except I still do."

A/N: Was it good? I don't know…I haven't written in a while, and I've never done a one shot before either. Let me know, good or bad. Although I mean constructive when I say bad, cause full out flaming would be uncool.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Me, myself, and I, that's all I got in the eeeeeeeeeend! Oh man. Even those lyrics don't belong to me. Sheesh. Oh welps, you all know that I don't own anything in here that costs money. ;**

The noon sunlight hit Miley as she sat at home in her office, looking over her accounting books. Miley was in charge of a couple of boutiques along the California coast. It had started out as helping a friend, but as always in LA, one celebrity sports your line and you're big in no time. After Catherine Zeta-Jones had used the line's signature So.Phistication evening bag, phones were off the hook. Two years later, the store now had locations in LA, San Francisco, and the newest one here in Santa Cruz.

It had been a week since their supermarket run-in, but Miley still had Oliver on her mind. Sighing, she pulled open her right desk drawer, pulling out an album she had put together her senior year.

She had decorated the album herself, covering it in pink fabric and stitching in "Friends Forever" with a thick purple thread. She opened up the album to the picture of her and Oliver after they had just finished their Romeo and Juliet scene. She laughed to herself. Her husband Chris then peeked his head in.

"I'm going back to the firm now babe. Got the files that I needed."

"I didn't even know you had come home," she said, puzzled.

"That's because I didn't want you to. Or else you would have fussed over eating lunch, and I just don't have time for that with this case coming up."

"Oh. Right. Cause wanting to feed you is so horrible."

"See. You're fussing. I'll see you later. Love you."

"Love you too," she called out to him as he rushed out the door.

"Sorry for caring," she grumbled, putting the album back into its designated drawer.

"Ugh, I can't concentrate now, I need a break. Especially since I am talking to myself."

Miley went back to her bedroom to quickly put on a skirt and tank top. Looking at the trees outside softly moving, she decided to take along a track jacket just in case. She took a quick look in the mirror, deciding that no one on the beach would care if she had makeup on or not.

She grabbed her purse and locked up the door. Her purse buzzed, and she pulled out her palm pilot, hoping it wasn't more work. In relief, she saw it was just her daily quote, provided thanks to her phone service.

"Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish." – Ovid

"Yeah, chance is a pretty insane thing isn't it," she said. "Like the fact that I was in the same supermarket and same aisle as Oliver at that chance moment." _No more Oliver thoughts Miley, it's over now. He's happy, you're happy. And what you need now, is a break, the beach and maybe get a nice mocha somewhere._

Miley started towards her car when she decided she wanted something different today. Maybe she would go to the beach the couple of blocks down from her house, instead of driving the five minutes to hit the boardwalk. As she started walking, she remembered she wanted a mocha, so she ran over and asked her next door neighbor Joe if he knew any good places.

"Yeah sweetie, just head to the end of the street, go down Atlantic towards Mariners where all the boats are, and there's a little café there. It's real nice, but I've never actually bothered to look at the name. Guy who runs it is real great, you'll like him."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and started her little adventure. When she finally arrived there, she was surprised to see that it was right near the water. It had a great view of the boats, but was also a stone's throw from the beach. What a great place she thought. As she got closer, she smiled to herself when she saw what the café's name was: Chance.

A small bell rang as she entered the café and she sighed. It was funny how small things like a ringing bell versus an electronic ding dong could make any wishes of moving back to LA vanish from her head. Miley looked around, and saw about two thirds of the tables filled. There was a mother and her son, an elderly couple, a young teenaged couple, and a man with a safari hat all nearby.

A young girl was working the register. Her name was Aubrey, and Miley figured it was probably her first job.

"Hey! Can I help you?" she asked with pep that would do any owner proud.

"Yeah. I hear you guys have a great mocha. I'll have the biggest size you've got," Miley replied, beginning to pull out her wallet.

"Our mocha's good, but I'd go for our Pomegranate Milk Tea if you don't wanna die at 25 from caffeine overload. Don't worry Bre, this one's on the house," came a voice from the back.

Miley smiled and felt her cheeks begin to blush as she matched the voice to Oliver, who was smirking at her. "I didn't know you work here Oliver!" she said, walking over to meet him.

"Work here. Live here. Own the place. Same difference," he replied laughing.

"So _you're_ the great guy Joe was talking about."

"Joe said that about me? Awww, I might have to drop a quiche by his house later on for referring me another customer."

"One movie-deal sized mocha and a lucky penny sized Pomegranate Milk Tea!" shouted Aubrey.

Miley and Oliver walked over. "I didn't know which one to make, so I made both," she explained.

"Hey. It's alright, Bre. I'm gonna head out for a bit, can I leave you in charge?"

"Uhh…sure," she said a bit uneasily.

"Don't worry, Tony's in the back if you need anything."

"Oh, phew. I'll see you in a bit!"

Oliver grabbed the drinks as he and Miley exited Chance to walk towards the beach.

Once they found a couple of rocks to sit on, Oliver looked at Miley. "So. Will you be having the movie deal sized Mocha or the lucky penny sized Pomegranate Milk Tea?"

"My what sized whats?"

"Instead of tall, grande and venti like other coffee shops or cafes, we have the lucky penny sized aka small, job promotion sized aka medium, or the movie deal sized aka large."

"That's cute Oliver. You always were creative, in that slightly crazy way."

"Why thanks Ms. Stewart, or Mrs. Somebody. That uhh, _interesting_ compliment really touches my heart," he replied.

"Here. Give me the lucky penny pomegranate thingy."

"Alright. Hey. Actually, can you hold both? My phones going off."

"Oliver! We kind of have a problem. The blenders have gone berserk so we're only serving stirred drinks right now. You think you could come back?" came Audrey's voice accompanied by what sounded like a chainsaw and a couple of giggles and screams.

"Sure, I'll be right there," he answered, before closing his phone. "Hey, work calls, but maybe I'll see you around." As he turned to leave, Miley stopped him.

"Wait. Look Oliver, I'm not gonna pretend like I haven't been thinking about you all week since our little bump in at the supermarket. Let's go out to dinner sometime. Only as friends of course. I guess I miss how it was before we, well, grew apart."

Oliver was about to open with his mouth when Miley started again.

"Don't even worry about it. Chris wouldn't mind at all. He's been staying late at the firm lately anyways. Big case for him."

"Well Miley, it may be okay with your mister, but I'll still need to check with my main girl."

"Oh my God, of course. I just could've sworn you said that - "

Oliver laughed. "Don't worry, I'm talking about Maddie. You're right, no dating or marriage for me." He smiled. "Stop by here tomorrow around 5 and we'll go out to eat. Bye, Miles." With that, he ran back to the café, back to the haywire blenders and entertained customers.

Miley sat back down, looking at the two drinks that she held in her hands. Putting the mocha down, she tried her Pomegranate Milk Tea. "Mmm. Oliver's right, this is good." She looked back at the café in the distance. "You really are something powerful aren't you chance?"

**A/N: See guys! I wasn't lying when I said I was gonna continue this. Even if it is 23094823094 days later. Review to let me know if I should keep going or end it while I still can. Thanks for the read. Xxoo**

**P.S. Chasing Hearts has been updated for those who care. Yay!**


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